Founder and CEO of American Giant discusses why highly informed and vocal consumers spending their money on products that matter to them represents a profound shift in retail.

As part of our 2015 Future of Retail report, we reached out to industry experts and tastemakers to get their opinions on the key trends shaping the future. Bayard Winthrop is the Founder and CEO of American Giant, an American-made apparel brand and online retailer that has gained a strong following by offering a high quality product focused on focused on fit, construction, durability, and great value. We wanted to get his thoughts on what helps American Giant stand out in the minds of consumers as well as the direction retail is heading in the future.

PSFK Labs takes a the key strategies taken from our recently launched retail report for how retailers can bring the best of online, in-store.

With the ascendancy of e-commerce and the shift to a mobile-first consumer, many experts were ready to proclaim the fate of the physical store. Although bricks and mortar shopping faces greater competition from these channels than ever before, a recent study from A.T. Kearney reports that 95% of all retail sales still take place with retailers who have a physical shop.

Tablets are changing how and where where work gets done, contributing to new levels of productivity and greater levels of overall satisfaction.

Portability, versatility and increasing computer performance of tablets are bringing completely new experiences, changing how we enjoy entertainment, shop, gather information, communicate and blend our digital and real worlds. This series by PSFK and Intel explores how improving tablet capabilities are changing the status quo in many aspects of our lives.

Tablets are blending the best of digital and real worlds in retail, ensuring customers are satisfied in line with their evolving expectations.

Portability, versatility and increasing computer performance of tablets are bringing completely new experiences, changing how we enjoy entertainment, shop, gather information, communicate and blend our digital and real worlds. This series by PSFK and Intel explores how improving tablet capabilities are changing the status quo in many aspects of our lives.

Mobile devices are playing a pivotal role in learning by giving teachers and students access to highly engaging and interactive materials.

Portability, versatility and increasing computer performance of tablets are bringing completely new experiences, changing how we enjoy entertainment, shop, gather information, communicate and blend our digital and real worlds. This series by PSFK and Intel explores how improving tablet capabilities are changing the status quo in many aspects of our lives.

The data being collected by personal wearable devices is painting a more intimate portrait of you, your health and your overall level of fitness. But in what ways does this extend beyond personal benefit? The real opportunity may be in connecting that information to a person who can help us make sense of the data and in turn, build a new relationship between patients and experts, one that carries with it highly personalized layers of analysis and recommendations.

PSFK's consulting team looks at how architects are beginning to adapt the on-demand technology for rapid construction.

As 3D printing solutions advance in terms of available materials and scale, architects are beginning to adapt the on-demand technology for use in the construction of dwellings and other structures, ushering in the next stage of prefab buildings. Whether creating the units in pieces or in some cases, pre-assembled wholes, the on-demand nature of architecture is changing the pace at which areas can be developed, while reducing associated labor and costs. Here are two of the best examples that PSFK Labs has seen around the theme of click-to-print housing.

PSFK's consulting team looks at how pervasive networks of cameras and embedded sensors can monitor the safety and well-being of both the city and its residents.

Driven by the reduced costs of technology and wider availability of WiFi, urban environments are being upgraded with a pervasive network of cameras and embedded sensors to monitor the safety and well-being of both the city and its residents. Whether tracking the integrity of vital infrastructure, providing a real-time picture traffic conditions or keeping a watchful eye on potential crime this intelligent web of information brings greater awareness to both citizens and officials. Here are two of the best examples that PSFK Labs has seen around the theme of Urban Vigilance:

PSFK's consulting team looks at how QR codes and other mobile tags can allow people faster and smarter ways to shop.

Over the last 12 to 18 months, there have been several examples of smartphones that can scan QR codes and other mobile tags to allow people faster and smarter ways to shop in the real world — no matter where they are. Often, these virtual storefronts operate entirely in the virtual realm and don’t require physical space for storing inventory.

PSFK's consulting team looks at how developers are experimenting with floating solutions to execute various forms of urban infrastructure from public schools to houses just offshore.

In a novel way to expand a city’s existing physical footprint, developers are experimenting with floating solutions that enable them to execute various forms of urban infrastructure from public parks to markets just offshore. Many cities have grown around river crossings and the ports so there is plenty of locations to employ this technology. Beyond increasing the capacity of development along a waterfront, these designs also have the ability to travel, serving communities across a city with a host of necessary services and bringing residents together around shared experiences. New examples of Floating Infrastructure are surfacing regularly. The consulting team at PSFK Labs has seen floating cinemas and even concepts for floating airports.Here are two of the best examples of Floating Infrastructure:

FIlmakers sponsored to document stories of real life heroes who are making the world a better place.

Working in close partnership with Coca-Cola Latin America’s Live Positively initiative, the National Geographic Channel has launched the documentary series “ViviendoPositivamente” (Live Positively), showcasing everyday individuals who have overcome major social, environmental and economic challenges to make an impact on their communities. The series premiered across Latin America on Nov. 6, 2012, covering five countries and telling eight stories in four episodes. Each of the four installments will focus on a different social cause: creating opportunities for work and education in impoverished communities, encouraging healthy bodies and minds, focusing on recycling, and agriculture.